Camp negotiations
by shan14
Summary: When Cheryl forces the team to go away for a week of team bonding, will they be able to survive each other, let alone save one of there own. Second in the Negotiations of Life series.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N This is the second story in my Standoff series which follows the lives of Matt and Emily. It follows on from Office Gossip and while it is not essential you read that first I highly recommend it. I hope you enjoy this next story.**

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognise belongs to Fox and Standoff. I do own Ailleen (Franks wife) Tommy, Kaitlin (Franks children) and Mike (Cheryl's boyfriend)**

It had been three weeks since Matt's dilemma about Emily being pregnant and life at the FBI's Crisis Negotiation Unit had quietened down.

"Man if there was ever a time for a crisis it would be now" complained Duff throwing paper balls at Lia's head in an attempt to get her to turn around.

"Would you please stop that?" asked Lia turning away from her computer to stare at Duff. Her only response was a grin from the man in question before Cheryl came through the door announcing a team meeting.

"Oh boy, don't tell me Matt thinks Emily's dying this time" Frank asked sarcastically.

"No, this is work related, so get yourselves in there before you no longer have a work to go to" Cheryl replied staring pointedly at the Frank, Duff and Lia.

"Okay everyone" started Cheryl as soon as everyone had seated themselves. "As you all know work has been pretty slow for the last few weeks so the director has decided that you all need a break, while we can spare you"

"All right" said Frank leaning back in his chair.

"You got plans Frank?" asked Matt grinning at him.

"Let's just say the kids are away for the weekend and Aileen and I missed our anniversary a few weeks ago" replied Frank returning Matt's grin wholeheartedly.

"But!" said Cheryl interrupting Franks train of thought "There's a catch"

"Isn't there always" said Emily.

"We all have to spend the week together at a cabin a few hours away. Now before you all start complaining" Cheryl continued cutting off the looks the others where sending her "We don't have to do any of those team bonding exercises like orienteering, all you have to do is survive a week in a cabin together. Though that should be a challenge in itself" she added quietly.

"Do I have to go as well?" asked Lia, trying to worm her way out of being stuck with Duff for a week.

"'Your in this team aren't you so yes you have to go" said Cheryl.

"Now, I'm expecting you all here early tomorrow morning at 7 so that we can get up there at about 11" said Cheryl.

"Wait a minute, tomorrow?" asked Emily surprised.

"Yes so you better go home quickly and get ready" said Cheryl shooing away the five sulking FBI agents from her office.

"By the way Matt, we're taking your car so make sure you have all the seats down so we can all fit" added Cheryl smiling innocently at Matt.

"Oh, Fantastic" stated Matt sarcastically walking out of the office.

_This is going to be a long weekend_ thought Cheryl.

"Hey Matt" yelled Emily running down the hall to catch up with her partner.

"You excited about the holiday?" she asked giving him a grin. The elevator opened and the two stepped in.

"Oh, I'm just fine and dandy" said Matt.

"Come on it'll be fun" said Emily slipping her hand into Matt's.

"Plus, if you promise to be good while we're away I might just have a reward for you tonight" she added sweetly, stepping out of the elevator.

"That a promise?" asked Matt.

"I don't know? You'll have to catch me first" Emily yelled over her shoulder as she ran out of the building into the car park.

"Hey, get back here" yelled Matt, laughing as he chased after her.

Suddenly the trip was looking brighter after all.

**A/N So, how did you like it. Please read and review.**


	2. Snap!

A/N The ending of this chapter has changed because i didn't like the way theending was leading the story. Because of this there is no longer the man in the bushes.

The next morning the team packed themselves into Matt's car and started the long journey up to the cabin. Matt was busy trying to navigate his way through the peek hour traffic, Emily had fallen asleep in the front seat which had started a wave of remarks from Frank about her and Matt's lack of sleep, Cheryl had busied herself with some last minute paperwork and Duff and Lia had started a rather noisy game of snap in the back seat.

"Snap, I win" yelled Duff triumphantly.

"Na" said Lia "my hand so got under yours"

"In your dreams Mather's" replied Duff.

"Fine then" said Lia taking a hold of Duff's hand.

"You going to give me my hand back?" he asked

"Nope, if you can't play nicely than you can't play at all" said Lia.

"You guys mind keeping it down a bit, Emily's trying to sleep" said Matt.

"You know she wouldn't have that problem if you guy's had actually gotten some sleep last night in stead of…"

"Frank" said Cheryl cutting him off from any further comments.

"All I'm saying is it would have been better for both of them if they'd actually slept. I mean are you sure you're awake enough to be driving Flannery? asked a grinning Frank.

Matt turned around to let fly some of his thoughts on the subject but instead of doing so only managed to drift over the lines.

"Matt, watch the road" yelled Lia gripping Duff's hand harder.

"Sorry" Matt apologised swerving the car back onto the road.

"What the hell?" asked Emily waking up.

"Uh, sorry Em. I got a bit side tracked and wasn't watching the road properly" Matt apologised yet again turning to smile at his partner.

Emily returned his smile.

"Oh, brother" said Frank sarcastically.

"You're just jealous because you're missing out on spending the weekend alone with Aileen" said Emily turning around to look at Frank.

"No" said Frank, starting up another argument between him and Matt and Emily.

"Lia" yelled Duff "Could you pleases let go of my hand" he complained.

"Nup, you have to learn to be nice to me" she replied causing Duff to complain even louder.

_Oh boy_ thought Cheryl _It's going to be a long week._

After four long hours in the car Matt finally pulled up outside the cabin that would be their home for the next week.

"Okay everyone" yelled Cheryl getting everyone's attention "As you know we have to spend the week together so because of that we will be sharing rooms"

"Oh man" complained Frank, Duff and Lia. Matt and Emily just smiled at each other.

"Anyways, there are three rooms. Because I am the boss I get the room with one double bed. Emily and Lia you will be sharing one room and Frank and Duff you will be sharing the other"

"What about me?" asked Matt starting to panic. It was bad enough that he wouldn't be able to share a room with Emily but he could live with that. On the other hand not having a bed was sounding a lot worse.

"I here the lounge is very comfortable" said Cheryl walking past him up the stairs.

"Oh, come on" complained Matt.

"Sorry, man" said Duff walking past him.

"Don't worry" said Frank grinning at Matt "I'm sure Lehman will let you share her bed"

Emily just smiled at Matt.

"Oh, poor Matt" she said teasing him affectionately "Come on, if you help me take these bags up and I might consider Franks idea"

"Really?" asked Matt hopefully following her up the steps to the front of the door.

"Only if you're good" she said kissing him.

"Cheryl!" yelled Frank "They're kissing again" he complained.

"It's going to be a long week" said Emily leaning against Matt's chest "Isn't it"

"Yep" he replied laughing.


	3. chapter three

**A/N sorry this has taken so long. I have revised chapter two. You don't have to read it but it is helpful because there is no longer the guy in the bushes. I didn't like the direction the story was heading with him so i have changed it. Hope you like chapter three.**

A few hours later the team had unpacked and Emily was beginning to get bored.

"Hey, do you guys want to do something?" she asked walking into the lounge room where Frank, Duff and Matt were sitting in front of the TV.

"Hmm" they replied continuing to stare at the screen.

"Hello" she yelled trying to get their attention.

"It's no use" said Lia, walking into the kitchen behind Emily and opening up the fridge. "Ever since Frank found the sports channel it's been like talking to the brick wall"

Emily smiled at her friend. "I guess it's just us then" she replied. Seconds later Lia slammed the fridge door shut and jumped up on the counter next to Emily. "There's no food" she pouted.

"What" said Cheryl coming out of her room "I thought the guys where bringing the food"

"You trusted them with the food?" asked Lia turning to look at Cheryl.

"Yeah, Mike's pretty good with stuff like that" she said pausing for a second "I'm guessing Matt and the others aren't though?" she asked realising her mistake.

"Cheryl, you've been to Matt's place before. Have you ever seen anything remotely healthy there?" asked Emily.

"No" said Cheryl "I guess not. We'll just have to hope they brought enough to last until tomorrow. Then we can go to the shops"

Emily walked over to the pantry trying to find where the guys had put the food. _If they did bring any_ she thought grimly opening the doors.

"Anything?" asked a hopeful Lia.

Emily's only reply was to turn and glare at the back of the guy's heads.

"Matt!" she yelled.

"What?" he asked jumping out of his seat and landing on the floor, legs stuck in the air between the lounge and the coffee table.

"You okay man?" asked Frank laughing at Matt's position.

"You want to help me?" asked an angry Matt, his situation made worse by trying to wiggle out from underneath the table.

After being helped up by Duff he turned to face Emily who was by now trying very unsuccessfully to stop her giggling.

"You wanted me" he asked.

"Um, we where just wondering if you guys brought any food?" asked Emily between bouts of laughter.

"Yeah" said Frank, Duff and Matt holding up three beers and a packet of Chips.

"Anything besides beer and potato chips?" asked Cheryl mentally kicking herself for trusting the boys with such a task.

"Did you really think we would only bring potato chips?" Matt asked incredulously.

"Yeah" Frank added "There are salt and vinegar and chicken in the cupboard"

To this the boys where meet with three death glares. "Don't think that was the best answer" Matt whispered to Frank.

Suddenly Emily grinned at Matt, turned, and ran into her room where Matt had left his stuff.

_That can't be good _thought Matt "Emily never grins like that unless I'm in for it" said Matt quietly to the others.

"That must happen often" said Frank grinning at Matt.

Matt shot him a look but before any words were said Emily walked out of the room holding a bass guitar in her hands.

Matt's bass guitar.

"Emily" he growled in warning. "If you break that" he said. Frank and Duff shot him a look. "You okay man?" asked Duff.

"Oh, don't mind Matt he gets a little overprotective of his guitar" said Emily grinning at the guys. "Hey Frank you want to have a go?" she asked passing him the instrument.

"No" yelled Matt jumping in to intercept the guitars path. But Emily snatched it out of his hands before he could grab it.

"Emily, please give me the guitar. Do you have any idea of how much it cost. If you scratch it, I swear" Matt whined trying to grab the guitar from behind Emily but only succeeding in backing her into the wall.

"Okay then" she said "But on one condition. You guys have to help us around here. We aren't going to be your slaves while you drink beer and watch sports all day. Also when we talk to you, you have to answer back. And finally you can't just sit in front of the TV all week. Do we have a deal?" she asked holding out her right hand.

"Fine then" said Matt shaking her hand. "Now can I have my guitar back" he said reaching behind her.

"Not so fast. First I have an idea" she said turning to grin at the boys. "Since you where originally supposed to bring the food, Cheryl, Lia and I will write you a list and then tomorrow the three of you are going into town to go shopping. I will give you back your guitar after you get everything on the list. Okay"

"Fine then" said a Matt gloomily shaking her hand again.

"You know I would probably get it more if we sealed it with a kiss" he said grinning at her.

"Get over yourself cowboy" she said shaking her head.

"Oh, come on" he said following her into the bedroom.

"No" she said firmly. She turned around to face him only to find him right behind her.

"Got ya" he whispered wrapping his arms around her and leaning in to kiss her.

He was millimetres away when she turned her head so all he got was her cheek.

"You know that's a very mean thing to do" he said.

"You'll live. Now come on you got a big day tomorrow" Emily said dragging him out of the room behind her.

"Don't remind me"


	4. Shopping and James Bond

**A/N Merry Christmas everyone. Warining: i wrote this after having choclate and christmas deserts, and while listening to Chris Cornell's You Know my Name.**

**Hope you enjoy.**

Matt, Frank and Duff stood in the car park staring up at the glaring neon sign reading **Supermarke**t in big, bold letters.

Frank drew in a deep breath "Well it's now or never men" he said turning towards Matt and Duff to shake their hands "Good luck."

The three men strode into the small supermarket. "So what first?" asked Matt looking down at the list.

"Vegetables" he read. "What type of vegetables?" he asked panicking. _Emily knows I need details for things like this_ he thought.

"Its okay" said Frank laying a hand on Matt's shoulder. "When ever Aileen feels the need to punish me she sends me shopping with the kids. It's a gruesome task but if I can survive it with two screaming kids I think we can as well" he reassured.

"Well vegetables usually just mean broccoli, beans and carrots" said Duff steering the trolley towards the vegetables isle. He stopped in front of the carrots.

"Okay" said Frank taking charge. "When I'm with the kids we turn the shopping into a sort of SWAT/ James Bond mission"

"What?" asked Matt incredulously.

"Well, in this situation I'd send Caitlin to get the bag, Thomas to pick out the best carrots and then I inspect them. If what they have done is good they move up a level and the first person to reach my level wins. Of course we will not be doing that, but there's hardly anyone here" he said turning to grin at Duff "What do you say we turn this into a SWAT mission. We divide the list up and the first person to get all their items wins"

"And, you can sabotage" added Duff "Just to make things interesting"

"Guy's" said Matt "We're in the middle of a public supermarket, not to mention the girls would kill us if they found out we where doing this"

"Come on Matt" Frank teased "Live a little"

Matt stopped to think about his situation when the new Jams bond theme 'You know my name' started blaring of the loud speaker, filling the near deserted supermarket.

"See Matt" said Frank "its fate"

Matt drew in a deep breathe. _Sorry Emily _he thought. "Fine then"

"Okay. Matt you take Fruit and vegetables, Duff you take dairy and meats and I'll take breads and treats" yelled Frank already running down the isle towards the breads.

_Okay thought_ Matt _I'm up against two SWAT guys _"fantastic" muttered.

He looked down at the list that read vegetables and fruits.

_Well I know Emily likes broccoli and beans and I like carrot so I'll get them, but what does everyone else like_? He wondered.

"You better hurry up Matt" yelled Duff placing the cheese and two cartons of milk in the trolley.

_Damn_ thought Matt turning to grab a plastic bag. He filled it with carrots and sprinted down the isle to throw the bag in the trolley. "One down, nine others to go" he said.

5 minutes later Matt was sneaking past the bread isle trying to make it to the fruits before Frank saw him. He knelt down so that he was on all fours a started to creep past the isle. Frank was busy trying to decide between white bread and wholegrain and so didn't notice the old lady see Matt crawl past him and into the fruit section.

"Yes" whispered Matt triumphantly, one more item and victory was his.

"Are you all right young man?" asked the old lady from behind, startling Matt.

"Um, yes" he replied jumping up to face the old lady. "Do you need something?" he asked.

"Oh, no. I was just wondering why you where on the floor?" she asked innocently.

"Um" said Matt ignoring Frank who was trying not to laugh and Duff who hadn't been as successful. "Um, I was just looking for some thing" he answered lamely.

"On the floor" asked the lady looking confusedly at Matt.

"Well, you see, I dropped my…"Matt looked around "my, apples" he answered spotting the apple stand a few feet away. "And I was just trying to get them back"

"Oh" answered the lady "well, as long as you are okay. Goodbye" she said smiling at Matt.

"Yeah, goodbye" said Matt waving at the lady before turning to grab some apples and glare at Frank.

"Okay" he said grumpily putting the apples down in the trolley. "I don't care what you guys think, Game Over"

"Fine by me" said Frank grinning at Duff.

"What?" asked Matt surprised that Frank and Duff had agreed with him for once.

"Yeah, we really should be more aware of the public" nodded Duff.

Matt stared at the two men who were grinning at each other.

"Plus we already won when you where explaining to Mary Poppins over there about your Lost Apples" grinned Frank.

"Oh, shut up" said Matt grabbing the trolley and pushing it towards the counter.

Frank and Duff followed, laughing.

When they reached the counter the three men started to unpack the trolley.

Matt walked over to the young guy behind the counter.

"You guys staying up at the cabins?" he asked.

"Yeah" replied Matt wondering how the boy knew.

"You forget to bring the food?"

"Yes" the three men replied together.

"Yeah" nodded the young boy "We get a lot of guys like you up here"

"Oh" said Matt relaxing.

"Your girlfriends send you up here?" the boy asked grabbing the food and scanning it before placing it into the bags.

"Not ours" said Frank "His" he said pointing at Matt.

"Hey, Lia seemed pretty bent on sending you up here too" defended Matt grinning a Duff.

"What?" asked Duff "Me and Lia, I don't think so?"

"Oh, I can see that" said Frank.

"Nah, she's to smart for that" replied Duff.

"Hey" said Frank "Emily's pretty smart as well but she's still with Matt"

Matt passed the guy the money to pay for the groceries.

"Hey" he said causing Frank, Duff and the counter boy to start laughing.

"A bit late Matt" said Frank.

Matt's only response was to grab his change and push the trolley out the door.

"See ya" said Frank to the counter boy, before following Matt out the door.

"Wait a minute" yelled the boy "up near the cabin they're building and there's a big hole that can't be seen well if you're walking towards it away from the cabin. Just make sure your friends don't fall into it. Most of the people are out of town this weekend so no one will be around to help you if you do fall into it"

"Okay" yelled Frank walking out into the car park "Thanks mate" he yelled over his shoulder.


	5. The hole

**A/N Thankyou to everyone who has reviewed. Hope you all had a great New Years Eve. **

Emily looked up from where she was painting her nails to look at Cheryl.

"Do you think the guys survived shopping?" she asked.

"Who knows" replied Cheryl. "Matt can convince a guy holding half a building hostage to give himself up and between the two of them Frank and Duff have almost 10 years SWAT experience"

"Yeah, but you place them in front of a shop with a grocery list and they act like its hell on earth" interrupted Emily. The two girls grinned at each other.

"Guys!" they said in unison.

"You talking about us?" asked Matt walking through the door, carrying bags of groceries. "No" said Emily sarcastically. "So you survived the horrors of shopping?" she asked as Frank and Duff joined them.

"Only just" grumbled Matt.

"Yeah, Matt got interrogated by a little old lady about why he was crawling around on the floor" said Duff.

"What" said Emily turning to look at Matt "Why were you on the floor?"

"Um" said Matt trying to explain for the second time that day. He turned to Frank and Duff who where grinning innocently at him.

"Why don't you guy's explain why I was on the floor" said Matt causing Emily and Cheryl to turn towards the guys expectantly.

Frank stared blankly back at them "he was looking for the apples" he answered lamely, not wanting to explain to his boss why they quite possibly would be getting calls later about three men on a SWAT mission in the middle of the supermarket.

Emily shook her head disbelievingly. "So you got everything on the list?" she asked.

"Yep" said Matt proudly "Every last item" he added for good measure.

"Well I'm proud of you" said Cheryl.

"Do I get my guitar back now" asked Matt cautiously.

Emily rolled her eyes "Yeah Matt, you can have it back, but only if you promise to play something for us later"

"Fine" yelled Matt over his shoulder, running down the hallway to make sure his guitar had survived the night.

Duff turned towards Emily and Cheryl "you guys know where Lia's gone?' he asked.

"She went for a walk a few hours ago" answered Emily as she helped Cheryl unpack the groceries. Duff turned to look at Frank. "You don't think…" he began.

"Na" answered Frank, "She wouldn't have…"

"Matt" they both yelled.

"Yeah" said Matt running down the hall "What happened?" he asked concerned at their grim faces.

"Lia went for a walk a few hours ago and hasn't come back yet" answered Duff starting to get worried.

"Oh" said Matt catching their drift. "Which way did she walk?" he asked Emily.

"Down towards the town" she answered "Matt what's going on?"

"I'm not sure, but the guy at the check out said there was a hole being built down towards the town that can't be seen from the cabin" said Frank.

"And you think Lia might have fallen into it" finished Cheryl.

"Yeah" answered the guys.

"She might have just gotten lost" said Emily, trying not to think of her friend at the bottom of a hole.

"Even so, if she's lost we still have to find her" Matt said.

"Okay" said Frank getting into work mode "Emily, Matt you guys go round the long way towards the town, Duff and Cheryl you take the short route and I'll go bush just in case she went off track" he said pointing out for them which direction to go in. "We communicate by phone and if we haven't found her in three hours we call the cops. That sound good?" he asked.

"Yeah" everyone agreed before walking off in the directions.

Half and hour later, Matt and Emily where walking along the trail leading towards the town. "You think she fell down the hole?" asked Emily.

"I don't know" answered Matt vaguely.

"Oh" said Emily.

Matt turned to look at her realising for the first time just how worried she was about Lia.

"Hey" he said turning her to look at him. "Lia will be fine, she's probably just gotten lost or something"

"But what if we don't find her?" asked Emily.

"What do you think the chances are of that happening, especially with Duff looking for her?"

"I guess your right" said Emily, still unconvinced.

"Tomorrow she'll probably spend the whole morning telling you about how she climbed a tree and found a bird's nest or something" said Matt lamely.

"What?" asked Emily, smiling.

"I don't know"' answered Matt "But it made you smile. All I'm trying to say is that she'll be fine"

"Okay" said Emily. She turned to give him a kiss on the cheek for cheering her up but in doing so stepped backwards into thin air. Matt threw his arms around her to stop her from falling "You okay" he asked pulling her close to him.

"Yeah" she replied breathlessly "thanks for catching me" she said smiling up at him.

"No problem" he smiled back.

"Matt!" yelled a voice from behind them "Emily!"

"Lia is that you?" yelled Emily turning to look down the hole.

"Hey" said Lia waving up at her friends.

"You okay?" asked Matt, looking down at his friend at the bottom of the hole.

"Yeah, except my butt hurts from falling on it and I think I broke my ankle. Plus I ripped my jeans" she added.

"Good to know that you're okay" said Matt, emphasising the you're in response to her jeans comment.

"You stay talking to her and I'll call the others" Matt told Emily pulling out his phone.

"Okay" she responded "Sit tight Lia, Helps coming"

"Thanks" yelled Lia "Trust me, I'm not going anywhere"

**A/N Please, Please read and review. Not only does it help me, it makes me happy.**


	6. Rescue mission, Duffman style

**A/N. Ahhh. I am finally back from my holiday. Sorry it took me so long to update but i had no computer. I'm not to sure about this chapter cause my brains still in holiday mode but please let me know what you think!!. Reviews are very much appreciated, cause i really don't feel like writing more without them and there is only one more chapter left.**

Cheryl, Duff and Frank ran down the path eager to find where Matt and Emily had found Lia.

"Down there" pointed Frank, spotting Matt and Emily kneeling over a couple of metres away. Duff squinted to try and see the hole. "No wonder Lia fell down there" he noted "Your can hardly see the hole at all"

"You'd think they would put a sign or fence near it, wouldn't ya" muttered Frank.

"At least we found her" said Cheryl walking the last few steps towards Matt and Emily.

Duff knelt to peer own the hole. "How is she?" he asked.

"Why don't you ask her" suggested Matt, noting the concern under lacing Duff's words.

Duff knelt even further down until he could see Lia sitting at the bottom of the hole. She was covered in dirt and looked worn out but other than that she was fine. "You okay down there Lia?" he yelled.

"Duff?" she questioned.

"Yeah, where all here now" he answered.

"I'm doing okay" she yelled back "Though I ripped my jeans pretty badly" she complained.

"Oh" said Duff, sharing a confused look with Frank and Matt. "Well we'll be down in a minute to get you, so just sit tight"

Frank looked between the two men as Duff got up again. "How are we going to approach this?" he wondered out loud.

"Hey, you two are the SWAT guys, just tell me what to do" offered Matt.

"Okay then" said Frank turning to look at his surroundings. The track they had come on was behind him, a clearing was to his left, more bushland lay in front of them, but to his right lay the equipment the workers had been using before packing up for the weekend. "Ahah" he grinned.

"What are you thinking?" asked Matt.

"You'll see" he said before striding confidently over to the equipment.

"Feel like a bit of abseiling?" he asked Duff holding the ropes and belays out in front of him.

Ten minutes later Frank and Duff had set up a temporary abseiling system. They had tied the ropes to the nearest tree and geared up in the workers gear. Then Frank had attached the ropes and belays to their harnesses. "You ready to go?" he asked Duff after he had finished tightening everything.

Duff looked over at him and grinned "Yep, ready to rock and roll"

Frank positioned himself behind a pair of rocks and leaned back, while Duff did the same thing over the edge of the hole.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Emily whispered over Matt's shoulder.

"Yeah. She's got the head of tactical and the Duffman in charge of saving her, what could go wrong?" he reasoned.

"Duffman?" asked Emily, staring confusedly at Matt.

"Long story" he muttered embarrassedly.

"Can I hear it?" asked Emily playfully, poking him gently in the side.

"Let's just say it consisted of Frank, Duff and I, a few too many beers and _The Simpson's_ reruns" he answered moving out of the way of Emily's poking attack.

"Anything interesting going on?" asked Cheryl, noticing the two whispering a few metres away.

"No" they both answered quickly jumping away from each other.

"Don't worry" laughed Cheryl "I was just kidding with you, I can't really stop you from keeping your relationship out of this weekend, god knows you don't keep it out of work anyway" she muttered.

"She's coming up" yelled Frank pulling on the ropes to haul Duff and Lia up to ground level.

The other three ran over to help pull them up.

"Hey there Lia" laughed Matt "Glad you could join us"

"Very funny" she answered "Now could you please get me to a hospital, my ankle is killing me."

"Of course" said Duff before carefully picking her up and carrying her up the path, Frank and Cheryl following.

Matt went to follow them but stooped, noticing Emily was still standing behind him, a silly grin on her face.

"What?" asked Matt, casually wrapping his arm around her waist.

"Oh, nothing" replied Emily contently.

"Right" said Matt nodding his head.

"It's just Duff and Lia are so cute, it makes me wonder if we where like that before we got together"

Matt looked at her confusedly. "The only thing I remember from before we got together is fights and a very painful bump on the head"

"I guess you're right" answered Emily "At least we ended up okay"

"Yeah" agreed Matt "Though I wish we could have skipped the head bump thing" he complained causing Emily to start giggling.

"I really am sorry I through my coffee cup at you" she laughed.

"What ever" muttered Matt, before grinning at Emily.

_I'll tell her tonight _he decided.


	7. epilouge

**A/N Here is the last part in my story. Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Sorry if i didn't get back to you but i really appreciate them, I'll be making an extra effort to get back to everyone in my next story. Hope you enjoy.**

The team sat around Lia's room chatting when the doctor walked in.

"Well Miss Mather's" he began "It seems you had quit a nasty fall but luckily you weren't hurt to badly"

"So what's the verdict doc?" she asked "Can I go home yet?"

"Ahh" he laughed "I think that can be arranged. You're ankle will need to be kept elevated and you can take some more pain killers if needed though I would like you to check back in soon just to make sure everything's running smoothly. That sound good?" he asked lightly.

"Yep" grinned Lia.

"Okay then" said the doctor walking briskly out the door "Hope you all have a great holiday" he said to the team.

"Well he's the most, chipper, doctor I've ever met" Frank said sarcastically, once the man in question was out of ear shot.

"He was just being nice" responded Cheryl before shooting Frank and Duff a glare.

"Sorry I recked the rest of the holiday everyone" Lia apologised.

"What are you talking about?" said Emily "We got a bush walk, Frank and Duff got to show off and at the very least it gave us something interesting to do, cause no offence but it wasn't exactly the most exciting holiday"

"Yes" agreed Cheryl "Plus it got you all to work together which was the whole point of the week away. Now only if we could get you guys to work like that in the field we could avoid argument's" She said staring pointedly between Matt and Emily and Frank and Duff. "Alright?" she asked.

"I guess you're right" muttered Frank before sticking out his hand to shake Matt's. Matt accepted, shooting a smile in Cheryl's direction for good measure.

"So are we ready to get out of here?" he suggested hopefully. He was a little more relaxed in the hospital than he used to be but it still wasn't the greatest place in his opinion. 'The sooner we get out of here the better' he thought.

"Well there's no point in going back to the cabin so you may as well all go home" said Cheryl.

A chorus of muttered relief filled the tiny room, causing Cheryl to add "If any one asks about the weekend try and tell them it was good okay, we don't want the director thinking it was all for nothing."

"Fine" muttered Matt "You ready to go Emily?" he asked trying to usher her out of the room.

"Hey slow down" she cried as he tried to put her coat on. "I'll ring you tonight" she called to Lia from the door.

"Are you going to be okay?" asked Cheryl.

"Yeah. Duff said he'd give me a ride home. If I need anything I'll ring" replied Lia.

"Okay, well get better soon"

"Yeah and make sure Duff looks after you right, he was really worried when you went missing" added Frank, grinning cheekily.

Once the two had left the room Lia turned to look at Duff "Where you really worried about me?" she asked.

"Um" replied Duff "yeah. I was" he said, ducking his head in embarrassment.

"Thankyou for finding me" Lia said, taking his hand in hers and smiling up at him. Duff looked surprisingly down at their hands before grinning up at her, glad that she was feeling better.

Later that night Matt and Emily lay in bed talking.

"Did you have a good time on holidays?" asked Emily, lazily drawing shapes with her finger on his arm.

"Yeah" he replied, smiling slightly at her.

"I think Duff likes Lia" added Emily.

"Really" muttered Matt, sarcastically.

Emily whacked him lightly in the chest "Shut up"

She yawned, tiredly, rubbing her hands over her eyes.

"You tired?" asked Matt.

"Hmph" she replied, turning around so that her back was to Matt's front. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she responded by lying her arms on top of his.

"Goodnight" she whispered.

"Goodnight"

Matt laid his head down thinking over the day's events. Lia falling down the hole had been a wake up call for him. What if it had been Emily? He had thought and what if she had gotten seriously hurt. Thinking over this had made him realise that in their line of work there was quite a big possibility that Emily would get hurt and he had to make the most of what he had because, as Emily had said a few weeks ago, 'We don't know if it will be here tomorrow but it's here today"

'You have to tell her' he thought, willing his mouth to form the words. "Actually Emily, there's something I've been meaning to tell you" he spurted out, waiting patiently for her reply.

When nothing came he looked over at her face. He grinned at her, she was fast asleep, and Matt new that if he tried to wake her now there would be dire consequences.

He wrapped his arms back around her a kissed her head softly. "Love you Emily" he whispered before joining her in sleep.


End file.
